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Berkshire considered buying NYSE Euronext

Berkshire Hathaway is understood to have made a preliminary, conditional bid late last year for NYSE Euronext, which declined the offer and instead agreed shortly thereafter to sell itself to IntercontinentalExchange for $8.2bn.

The news of the Warren Buffett-led conglomerate’s interest in buying the owner of the iconic New York Stock Exchange emerged on Monday, when ICE provided details of negotiations related to its deal in a public filing. According to the document, Perella Weinberg Partners - the Big Board owner’s adviser - had initiated contact in November with representatives of "a large industrial and financial holding company", which, sources said, was Berkshire.

In mid-December, the boutique investment bank apparently updated NYSE Euronext's board about talks with the Omaha-based group, whose initial offer - subject to due diligence - was several dollars less per share than ICE's $33.12 cash-and-stock proposal. Plus, Buffett’s company wanted Liffe, NYSE's European derivatives business, to be sold at a certain price. Eventually, NYSE directors determined that ICE's offer provided a certainty of closure that Berkshire's offer didn't, and it was also the higher offer, sources said.

Separately, CME Group also last year looked at buying pieces of Liffe, it has emerged.